RR: Popping some San Gabriels Cherries - Strawberry/Colby/Gabrielino

[kanga]

Today's Strawberry Peak/Colby/Gabrielino ride was one to be remembered for myself and the six riders who came along. Thanks to Silkworm for posting, and for letting me be the "guide" for the run. It's one of my favorites. Everyone made it out fine, and I think it can be safely said that everyone learned a little about backcountry riding and preparedness, and had a great (though at times painful) time doing so.

To re-cap the day, the group had arranged to shuttle up to Redbox to ride Strawberry Peak counter-clockwise, followed by Colby Canyon and the Gabrielino. They would arrive around 8:15. My day started a little earlier.... At 4 a.m. I rolled out my front door with lights blaring, and rode the 12 miles to the Mt Lowe Fireroad trailhead. I climbed Mt. Lowe, starting out with lights, but as the dawn's first light appeared I was able to turn off the lights and enjoy the pre-dawn twilight. It was eerie riding so early. I saw several deer, and a new one for me, an owl on a tree by the trail. Climbing up through the marine layer I was soaking wet... part sweat (and I'm not used to sweating at 5:00 in the morning) and part mist.

Pre-Dawn marine layer:


I took a quick break at Inspiration point to watch the sunrise over Mt. Wilson.

Inspiration Point Sunrise


Cruising on, I was at Eaton Saddle at 7:10, and since the group wasn't expected until 8:15, I dropped in to Valley Forge, which is in great shape with CORBA's several days of trailwork over the last year. I climbed out the Gabrielino trail, and had a major mechanical.

A low tree had probably grabbed and pulled loose the windbreaker, leaving it dangling out my pack behind me. It got caught in my chain on a rocky technical climb up a creek bed part of the Gab, where I was standing up and trying to maintain momentum through the rocks. The jacket got sucked up by the chain, pulled around the lower derailer pulley, and stopped it dead. The derailler was wrapped around the hub with a broken hanger before I even realized it.



I always ride with a spare Bionicon hanger, and it was just a 15 minute job to swap it out. I had to remove both pulleys to get the jacket out. So, now being a little behind schedule, I rode through the campground and got on the fire road for the climb out instead of continuing up the Gabrielino, which is a very steep and at times technical climb with lots of creek crossings.

As I rode around the fireroad gate at Redbox at 8:16, the shuttle vehicle pulled in to the parking lot in front of me. It was perfect timing. I'd done over 4,000 feet of climbing and 26 miles to that point. The group, Sockeye, Silkworm, VanDykeTom, Eruizela, EpicRideRat, and Tom's 17 year-old cousin Dakota were geared up and ready.

EpicRideRat




Erizuela


We cruised on up the climb to the redbox trail and all went well. The descent to the Colby Trail junction is one of my favorites, and Todd quickly let me lead the way. It was fast and fun, and we only met two hikers near the bottom.

Silkworm


Sockeye


Dakota


Erizuela


From there we cruised up the Colby Trail to Strawberry Potrero for some food and to re-group.

The climb out of the potrero consists of two switchbacks that are too loose to ride at this time of year when it's really dry and loose, and one section is a steep scree field so it was a hike-a-bike for a couple of hundred feet, but beyond that a steady and steep climb. But it's over quickly, before we hit the section where the trail meanders through the rocks in a gradual climb.

EpicRideRat


From there we cruised on around the peak and to the Colby Saddle, where the descent into Colby Canyon would begin.



Sockeye


Silkworm



Dakota is a recent convert to mountain biking and today definitely pushed his limits, mentally and skill-wise, but he did great. He did, however, give us a good little scare near the big slide on the backside of strawberry before the Colby Saddle. He went over the side and down about ten feet or so was the report from behind. I was ahead and didn't see it happen, but he was just dusted up, but otherwise unhurt.

As he pulled in to the saddle, Erwin was more focused on the camera and snagged a bush, snapping his new chain. A quicklink from Sockeye came in handy.

Erizuela


I was the only one who had descended Colby Canyon from the top. Erwin had climbed it by accident, realized his mistake and turned around some time ago. But everyone was in for a real treat! Colby is one of my favorite descents. Rocky sections, tight switchbacks, rock gardens, creek crossings, extreme vertical exposure. I'm pretty sure it was pushing the limits of the group to do this route, so kudos to everyone for not hesitating to drop in.

Dakota flatted on the initial switchbacks and was fairly quick to get rolling again. We re-grouped often, and I tried to give a heads up as to what to expect on each section. For me, I was able to clean the entire trail except one creek crossing at the bottom. Others walked sections as needed, and Silkworm was on a hard tail, so was really getting beaten up. The rock gardens are challenging, but rideable:





Tight, exposed switchbacks:




One more flat near the exposed section after the first creek crossing (now dry), and another near the bottom. It was a long than usual descent with the stops and the mechanicals.

Once together at the bottom nobody hesitated to do the extra credit climb up the ACH to drop in to the Gabrielino at the waterfall. Even though a couple were out of water everyone headed up and regrouped after riding 1.5 miles of hot ashphalt. The reward was a baby head rocky trail that joins the Gabrielino just above the waterfall. We dropped in and finally were enjoying shade and single track again.

Waterfall, Sockeye:


VanDykeTom:


Most of the creek was dry until we arrived at the bathrooms at Switzer's parking area. I hiked a little way upstream of the bathroom and picnicers and pumped water. Everyone, including myself, were out or very nearly so. There's something nice about drinking cold, clean water out of the creekbed (filtered, of course). Another lesson for the backcountry. Know where there's water, and be prepared to treat or filter the water.

With full hydration bladders we cruised on down through the Switzers rock gardens. Always a challenging section if one tries to ride the whole thing. The climb from there was fairly quick, though really warm in the sun. We re-grouped near the top and began the beautiful descent into the shaded canyon. This is one of the magical little canyons in the Angeles.

Dakota:


The trail winds it it's way down the canyon, then crosses the creek and hugs the canyon wall for several miles down to Oakwilde. In places the trail is off-camber, narrow, with a 30' drop to a rocky creekbed below with dips and slides that make it like a pump track. Key to riding it is keeping momentum and staying very focussed on one's line and staying off the brakes... skidding on the off-camber surface will have you sliding off the side in a heartbeat, as Dakota found out. He came pretty close to a 30' fall, but was quick to recover.

Sockeye:




Dakota:


The waterfall creek crossing had less water than usual, and I was able to ride it. We cruised down to oakwilde, re-grouping several times, and then started the meander through the creekbed. It was getting rough for some by this point, out of food and feeling the nearly 7 hours on the trail thus far. The climb out of the canyon had a few people hurting, but once there, it was all crusing on down to the bridge that was out.

We headed out to the car with no injuries, nobody out of water, but some hungry and very satisfied riders.

My totals were 59 miles/9400' of descent/ascent, and the rest of the group did about 24 miles. The 9 miles of pavement back home was the most painful part for me. By the time I got home, I'd been on the bike 13 1/2 hours. Once off the dirt and singletrack, there just isn't any adrenaline to keep me going. The shower and the whopping smoothie felt pretty good when I got home, as did the 4 hour nap from which I just woke up!

[mtb_prodigy]

13 1/2 hours???? 59 miles???? 9400 feet of climbing????

[KBL]

Originally Posted by mtb_prodigy

13 1/2 hours???? 59 miles???? 9400 feet of climbing????

What he said!

[JoeTruth]

4am??? 59 miles??? 9400 feet??? 13.5 hrs. on the bike??? Smoothie post ride??? WTH?!?!
Steve, I mean this with the utmost respect and concern for you, really. "YOU'RE FREEKIN' NUTS, DUDE!!!" That's an insane amount of miles and feet on a pleasant day. On a hot day, just simply nutty. Great job leading the new crew around SP, Colby and The Gab. Even better job bringing your purifier and filtering much needed water for the thirsty gang. As usual, fantastic RR. Thanks for sharing!

[TrojanInsomniac]

Awesome RR, Steve! You're definitley from a different planet.......major props to you! Looks like I missed a good one. Hopefully, I'll be able to make another San Gabes ride soon!

[sdyeti]

Great job Kanga (and the rest of the group)! Wow...that is a commendable, long ride!

[Evil Chocula]

That is hardcorp buddy, well done.

[Jutty]

You are crazy! Good job, great pics!

[scottay]

EpicRideRat stole Trojans shirt!

Great pics.
.

[kanga]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

4am??? 59 miles??? 9400 feet??? 13.5 hrs. on the bike??? Smoothie post ride??? WTH?!?!
Steve, I mean this with the utmost respect and concern for you, really. "YOU'RE FREEKIN' NUTS, DUDE!!!" That's an insane amount of miles and feet on a pleasant day. On a hot day, just simply nutty. Great job leading the new crew around SP, Colby and The Gab. Even better job bringing your purifier and filtering much needed water for the thirsty gang. As usual, fantastic RR. Thanks for sharing!

It was a long day. For the rest of the group it was about 8 hours/24.5 miles.

My "moving" ride time was a hair under 8 hours and total door-to-door time was 13:30. We had lots of stops for food, mechanicals, pumping water, taking photos, re-grouping, etc. If I got 'em into it, I was gonna make sure they all got through it OK.

Again I have to give kudos to the rest of the gang. None had done SP in that direction, none had done the technical Colby Canyon descent, and Tom and Dakota had never ridden the San Gabriels before. Tom told me it was Dakota's sixth ride ever! He trudged along, didn't complain, and probably didn't know what he was getting into. But he and everyone did really well considering the heat, distance, and time on the trail.

And Joe, what's up with the WTH on the smoothie?

[OMR]

That's a heck of a long time to be in the saddle... especially the last 9 miles on the road can seem an eternity. Glad to hear there was no major blood left on the trail.Props to you for shepparding the group along.

Hopefully, you'll get down in our neck of the woods for a ride as well.

[art23rockpile]

Great RR, and good job all of you who did the ride.
I wish that I could have attended, as those are some of my favorite San Gabs trails.

Steve is a freak of nature (having ridden with him a few times, i've seen first-hand)... a very strong, experienced, and positive rider. It's unlikely that you could have found a better ride leader.

[speckledtrout]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

4am??? 59 miles??? 9400 feet??? 13.5 hrs. on the bike??? Smoothie post ride??? WTH?!?!
Steve, I mean this with the utmost respect and concern for you, really. "YOU'RE FREEKIN' NUTS, DUDE!!!"

Yeah. What he said.












but i secretly wanna be just like you . but without the hairy legs. (i'm just saying.)

[vandyketom]

All I can say is we are not worthy! Steve's knowledge of this area was awesome he is a great tour guide. Steve kept us all going there at the end.........some of us were doggin it.
Thanks to the whole group with some extra thanks for Steve. He saved us with the water filter/pump. I know I downed 75% of the 100 oz. refill by the time we hit the truck. We would have been really suffering without it.

GREAT RIDE! This is an awesome route and I will definitely hit it again.

[eruizela]

This ride was the real deal. Great people to ride with for sure. I tried to break steves 13 hour ride time by sleeping 12 hours last night. I was dead tired and went to sleep at 7pm after shower and dinner.

We had a great group of riders that i know will not forget this fantastick run.

I think us riding behind Kanga was great since it got us to climb longer, ride faster and endure more pain-disconfort than normal. going down colby was a blast, like eating a strawbery sunday on a summer day.

We had a few mechanicals but kept a nice pace.

I wish i would have remembered bringing my camera.

Kanga was a great guide, thanks man!

All in all an epic ride and one of my best times I have had up in the Gabs.